When they all arrived at the house Cecil got out of the car as fast as she could, no talking the entire way back made her feel incredibly awkward.
“ oh Cecil! Um, can you help out with some of this stuff?” hope asked, desperately trying to make conversation.
“ How could I help you? I can’t see the stairs! Do you want me to die trying to carry your things?
Hope bit her lip in embarrassment, “ r-right, sorry.” their mothers looked at each other in worry, but said nothing- this was something they had to sort out themselves.
“ so hope, your mom will be getting the guest room, and you’ll be bunking with Cecil! It’ll be great, you can-”
“ she doesn’t want me in there anymore, she’s not my friend.” her voice cracked as the emotions started to flood, “ o-ow!” her checks dripped red as the scabs from the burns cracked.
Her mother walked over to her in concern, pulling something out of her pocket, “ here Hun, are you okay?”
“ Yeah, I just got a little ahead of myself.”
“ you can’t push yourself too much, but at the very least, try to get along with Cecilia.”
“ Mom, she stopped talking to me. I tried to get along with her, but all she did was shut me out, and watch as the other girls-” she bit her tongue to avoid spilling the beans, but it had seemed it was too late.
“ the other girls- what?”
Hope said nothing, she looked down at her feet, avoiding eye contact.
“ I want to help you, but I can't if you don’t talk to me.”
“ It's nothing mom, can we just drop it? I’m just going to sleep on the couch in the living room.” she picked up a bag by the car door, and rushed into the house. Her mother turned to Leigh-Ann,
“ What am I going to do with a girl?”
Leigh-Ann just shrugged her shoulder, “ how should i know? My kid can’t even see.”
They shared a chuckled,
“ I had a feeling hope may have been getting bullied, but I just don’t get why? I know she can be a little aggressive-”
“ a little?”
“ okay, well she can be abrasive, but i don’t see how that can make kids kick on her to the point of-” Leigh-ann pulled her into a hug,
“ It's okay, she’s alive. That’s all that matters, she will come to you when she’s ready to talk about whatever is troubling her.”
“ you’re right, but I just hate this, I'm walking on eggshells whenever we even get close to the topic of school.”
“ Well, lucky for us it’s summer. No school problems for three months.”
“ ha, yeah. It’s going to be a long three months.”
“ as long as you have me, i think it’ll be fine.”
They entered the house together with their stuff, later that night, at dinner.
“ Cecil, you have mashed potatoes at three, you haven’t even touched them. They’re your favorite.”
“ I'm not that hungry at all, may I be excused?”
“ not until you eat something, three spoonfuls at least.” Cecil huffed as she felt for the spoon, moving it over the plate to three o’clock, she took three bite of the potatoes. Trying to keep her upset demeanor while eating one of the best foods in the world.
“ Maybe, I'm excused?”
“ alright, but no dessert, Missy.” Cecil gave a disappointed sigh, as she slowly pulled her plate of the table-
“ What are you doing?”
“ hm?”
“ put that plate down, you are not taking food to your room.”
“ but mom-”
“ No ma'am, you asked to be excused, you are excused from the table; the food stays.”
“ humph.” she pouted, stomping her feet out of the room, but then followed a loud thud. Her mom jumped up, and ran into the living room only to see cici’s face planned into the floor,
“ You okay?”
“ yes, but there’s something on the floor out of place-”
Hope bit her lip in shame, “ oh, no. it’s just my bag, i was meaning to put that away-”
“ Are you trying to kill me? You know I have a path so I don't have to use my stick at home!”
“ cecal I'm-”
“ don’t call me that! Only my friends call me that.”
Hope held her breath to keep from crying, she turns and runs out to the back of the house. Francine was about to go after her, but lee grabbed her wrist,
“ just let her cool off a bit-” she then turns back to Cecil, “ YOU!”
“ what? She- “
“ Give me your phone, NOW.”
She slowly raised her phone in the air waiting for her mother to take it from her, “ why are you taking my phone? I was only telling the truth-”
“ you are going to apologize to hope, and i don’t want you to text it to her.”
“ I deleted her number.”
“ go to your room for thirty minutes, then you will march back down here, and apologize to hope, and it will be sincere or you won’t have a phone for the rest of the summer.”
“ ugh! This isn’t fair, ‘m not the one who told her to kill herself!”
“ Go to your room, now.”
Face flushed, and pride hurt Cecil stomped her way up stairs and slammed her body onto her bed, screaming into her pillow. After her timer ran out she walked back down, hearing the t.v in the living room, she followed the sound.
“ hope?”
“ oh, no Hun. She’s still outside laying in the grass.” Francine said. So she made her way outside, pulling out her stick to avoid falling in the pool,
“ hope?”
“ What do you want?”
“ i just came to say- I’m-”
“ save it, i know you don’t mean it, anyway.”
“ well-” she had nothing to say, it was true after all, “ what are you doing?”
“ just looking at the stars. Do you want to join me?”
“ What good would that do me? I can’t see them.”
“ Well, I can just tell you what they look like, and you can try to imagine what it would look like in your head.”
“ this sounds so dumb, but it’s better than watching whatever show your mom is watching.”
“ I'm glad- I think.” that both laughed, it was the first time they laughed together in a long time, it felt nice but at the same time, it was still missing something. Nonetheless, they sat there for hours like old times.
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